Death and Madness 2

Alecto was Percy's math teacher??

The stairs went on forever—narrow, steep, and slippery. It was completely dark except for the light of Percy's sword. I tried to go slow, but Mrs. O'Leary had other ideas. She bounded ahead, barking happily. The sound echoed through the tunnel like cannon shots, and I figured we would not be catching anybody by surprise once we reached the bottom.

Nico and I lagged behind, which gave us time and space from Percy to talk in somewhat privacy. 

"If your teleportation works, does that mean you can use your telepathy too?" Nico whispered, almost like he didn't want Percy to listen. 

"Maybe... why?"

Try it

That was definitely not said out loud. It was weird switching from verbal to mind communication, especially after not being able to do it for a couple of months. And I still didn't know why. Chiron, the only person I had told about the fight between me and Nico, thought that my powers had something to do with my emotions, which was why there used to be so many vines when I had panic attacks. But when Nico and I had our argument, apparently according to Chiron, my emotions were a mess and that resulted in me not being able to use powers, which kind of sucked. 

I mean, what idiot's powers depended on a guy? That made me feel like a weird pick me girl or something. 

Yeah, my powers work I guess. What do you want?

We both don't trust my dad. Nico said matter of fact-ly. We also know that he wouldn't lie, but he's not going to just let Percy get away easily. 

Wait.  I stopped in my tracks, You're not going to let your dad hurt Percy, are you?

Of course not. Atleast I don't want that to happen. Which is why I'm telling you to keep him safe. 

I nodded. 

"You okay?" Percy asked me, realising how far behind we were.

"We're.. good, we're.."

"Fine." Nico completed. "Just keep moving," he said.

He didn't have much choice. We followed Mrs. O'Leary into the depths. After another hour, we started to hear the roar of a river.

We emerged at the base of a cliff, on a plain of black volcanic sand. To our right, the River Styx gushed from the rocks and roared off in a cascade of rapids. To our left, far away in the gloom, fires burned on the ramparts of Erebos, the great black walls of Hades's kingdom.

I shuddered. I'd first been here when I was thirteen, and that had been the first few days I knew Nico. We had also met this really weird ghost dude called Minos. Just thinking about him made me mad. But it also reminded me of last year and our adventure. 

Only Mrs. O'Leary acted happy. She ran along the beach, picked up a random human leg bone, and romped back toward Percy. She dropped the bone at Percy's feet and waited for him to throw it.

"Um, maybe later, girl." He stared at the dark waters. "So, Nico . . . how do we do this?"

"We have to go inside the gates first," he said.

"But the river's right here."

"I have to get something," he said. "It's the only way." He glanced at me.

He marched off without waiting.

Percy frowned, but I lay a hand on him and nodded, "Come on, can't let the little, mad, emo, Italian go off by himself"

Reluctantly, we followed him down the beach toward the big black gates.

Lines of the dead stood outside waiting to get in. It must've been a heavy day for funerals, because even the EZ-DEATH line was backed up.

"Woof!" Mrs. O'Leary said. Before we could stop her she bounded toward the security checkpoint. Cerberus, the guard dog of Hades, appeared out of the gloom—a three-headed rottweiler so big he made Mrs. O'Leary look like a toy poodle. Cerberus was half transparent, so he's really hard to see until he's close enough to kill you, but he acted like he didn't care about us. He was too busy saying hello to Mrs. O'Leary.

"Mrs. O'Leary, no!"Percy shouted at her. "Don't sniff . . . Oh, man."

Nico smiled. Then he looked at me and his expression turned all serious again, like he'd remembered something unpleasant. "Come on. They won't give us any trouble in the line. You're with me."

I didn't like it, but we slipped through the security ghouls and into the Fields of Asphodel. Percy had to whistle for Mrs. O'Leary three times before she left Cerberus alone and ran after us.

We hiked over black fields of grass dotted with black poplar trees. 

Nico trudged ahead, bringing us closer and closer to the palace of Hades.

"Hey," Percy said, "we're inside the gates already. Where are we—"

Mrs. O'Leary growled. A shadow appeared overhead—something dark, cold, and stinking of death. It swooped down and landed in the top of a poplar tree.

Unfortunately, I recognised her. She had a shrivelled face, a horrible blue knit hat, and a crumpled velvet dress. Leathery bat wings sprang from her back. Her feet had sharp talons, and in her brass-clawed hands she held a flaming whip and a paisley handbag. Last year, there had been three of them chasing after us, and we only escaped because we entered the labyrinth.

"Mrs. Dodds," Percy said.

She bared her fangs. "Welcome back, honey."

Her two sisters—the other Furies—swooped down and settled next to her in the branches of the poplar.

"You know Alecto?" Nico asked Percy.

"If you mean the hag in the middle, yeah," he said. "She was my math teacher."

I could only blink in disbelief. 

Nico nodded, like this didn't surprise him. He looked up at the Furies and took a deep breath. "I've done what my father asked. Take us to the palace."

Percy tensed. "Wait a second, Nico. What do you—"

"I'm afraid this is my new lead, Percy. My father promised me information about my family, but he wants to see you before we try the river. I'm sorry."

"You tricked me?" Percy's face changed as he got angry. Sure I had seen him in battle, but this was even worse. He looked betrayed but hurt and mad at the same time. He lunged at Nico, but the Furies were fast. Two of them swooped down and plucked him up by the arms. His sword fell out of his hand, and before I knew it, Percy was dangling sixty feet in the air.

I didn't want to look up, I knew Percy would be disappointed. More in me than Nico. He had already been on edge to trust him, but now that I didn't do anything and let the furies pick him up- "VIOLET?"

"I'm sorry Percy but Hades just wants to talk"

Mrs. O'Leary barked angrily and jumped, trying to reach Percy, but they were too high.

The other furies swooped down, taking me and Nico up in the air. It felt super weird to fly but have no control. Not mention the fact that they were really not trustworthy so I was expecting to get dropped at any moment. 

"Tell Mrs. O'Leary to behave," Nico warned,  "I don't want her to get hurt, Percy. My father is waiting. He just wants to talk." 

Percy gritted my teeth. "Mrs. O'Leary, down! It's okay, girl."

She whimpered and turned in circles, looking up at him. "All right, traitors," He growled at Nico and I. "You've got your prize. Take me to the stupid palace."

"Stop being dramatic" I rolled my eyes. 

The furies dropped us like a sack of turnips in the middle of the palace garden.